D- and L-Aspartic Acids: New Non-sugar Components of Bacterial Polysaccharides

N. A. Kocharova, S. N. Senchenkova, A. N. Kondakova, A. I. Gremyakov, G. V. Zatonsky, A. S. Shashkov, Y. A. Knirel^*, and N. K. Kochetkov

Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 47, Moscow 119991, Russia; fax: (095) 135-5328; E-mail: knirel@ioc.ac.ru

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received April 18, 2003; Revision received May 23, 2003

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For the first time in bacterial polysaccharides, residues of D- and L-aspartic acids were identified as N-acyl substituents of 4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-D-glucose in the O-antigens of enterobacteria of the genera Providencia and Proteus.

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KEY WORDS: Providencia, Proteus, aspartic acid, O-antigen, bacterial polysaccharide structure

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